FARAH ISHAQ

BANK JOB (2018/19)

A community-based art/social project, Bank Job was set up last year in E17 by two visionary artist/film makers, Hilary Powell and Dan Edelstyn. An evolving project which initially aimed and then succeeded to ambitiously buy up and ‘explode’ more than £1M worth of predatory debt owned by local residents in Walthamstow, East London. Bank Job has been named as the ‘Rebel Bank’ in The Guardian, written up for Curator Space and featured on the BBC One Show. Full sets of notes have been bought by the V&A, the Smithsonian and the Museum of London amongst others and the project won the Art Licks Weekend Prize at the end of 2018. A film documentary of the events has been made and now has the backing of the BFI.

See more info of opening times/ events/ talks and the final explosion at BANKJOB.PICTURES

FIRST EDITION

A first edition of denominations 1,5,10,20 and 50 was produced by a team of local money printers, including myself, at Hoe Street Central Bank (on the site of the closed down Co-op Bank) between 12-25 March 2018.  Each note was screen printed, letter pressed, trimmed, foil blocked, stamped and signed, creating unique and crafted currency as artworks in their own right.

Between 5-23 June 2018 we focused on the big money - printing limited edition 100 and 1000 notes made with handmade paper using fibres of real shredded banknotes from the Bank of England. All were available for sale for a limited time online or in HSCB. 

BUY BONDS

4-19 October 2018 saw HSCB in production printing bonds in the collectively owned and distributed explosion of the £1million pounds of local payday debt bought through banknote sales. On the 5th October the banknotes were taken off sale and the Bonds were launched to help fund the final explosion of debt in a van outside Canary Wharf in May 2019. The bank reopens now to show off the wreckage of the exploded cash in transit van and for visitors to forge their own coins made from the explosion wreckage materials of various metals. Bonds are still available to buy to continue to fund this incredibly worthwhile project.